City workers in Oviedo, Fla., discovered a large guest hidden inside a storm pipe when they sent a robotic camera underground last Friday.
While investigating the pipe, a camera mounted on the robot captured two glowing eyes further down.
At first, the city crew thought it was a toad, but as the camera got closer, they saw an alligator turning around, revealing its long tail.
The robot followed the alligator through the pipe over some 100 metres before getting stuck. The reptile meandered off.
Oviedo City Government reminded citizens that the encounter was "just another reason not to go wandering down into the storm water pipes."
You can watch the encounter between the robot and alligator in the video at the top of this article
